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Sending emails internationally? 6 tips to consider!

With a roaring high ROI of 68% emails are surely going to stay alive and well as compared to the other communication channels.

With most companies having a global database of recipients, marketers now aim at sending international emails. Moreover this stat also echoes the need of sending an internationalized email “56.2% of consumers say the ability to obtain information in their own language is more important than price.”

Before we jump start to international email marketing best practices, here’s a download of who requires some more internationalization!!!

Organization with regional presence across the world

Campaign management using multiple ESPs

Franchised brands

Companies with a dedicated local team for execution

Companies outsourcing to local agencies for defining marketing programs

So, which are the vital touch points within your email that you could internationalize following a set of best practices?

Email design considerations

Email aesthetics are crucial to deliver consistent yet powerful email campaign regionally. What’s cool in Spain might be culturally adverse for someone in Singapore for an example. Make sure your international emails have appropriate imagery for varying audience. The body language, expression, color, symbol, shades, date & time, currencies and there is so much more. Everything matters! Remember to cater to all your segments appropriately.

Multi-lingual copy approach

With the word international comes “Multi-lingual” audience. As your subscribers are wide-spread over the globe, consider whether English email campaign best fits the bill for all the recipients or should there be a need to make it multi-lingual. If you decide to make it multi-lingual you really need to make your copy work amazingly well for various subscriber sets. You can use awesome translation tools that enable you to change your email copy for different segments. Some companies offer sophisticated on demand service apart from your just another Google translate workaround.

While you plan sending a multi-lingual approach, also make sure your tone is equally good for different segments. Something that’s peppy in the USA might not be quite cool for someone in Germany for an example. Extreme copy checks for various segments will be a mandate. Also, ensure that the CTA buttons are multi-lingual along with the associated landing pages. That will make a radical international experience.

Process management

With internationalization of email campaigns, email marketers need to build robust processes. Right from content translations, collaborative tools for campaign management, production cycles, and due dates of signing campaigns off should all be aligned and in tandem. Likewise, different email campaigns will be required to track differently as the inbox placement and delivery rate might differ from country to country. Going the extra mile, there has to be international email sending checklist to be followed regionally amongst different team.

Text alignment & layout

Well, we all know most subscribers read emails on the go. But, that’s generic. Mobile penetration is different in different countries. As a global marketer, you need to cater to desktop & mobile audience differently. That said; marketers sending emails with the mobile first mentality can continue doing so, but also consider the users operating via desktop and other devices. In such a scenario, with international emails there might be different layout and text alignment as per the reading patterns (left to right, center, right to left etc.) Moreover, while adjusting the text and layout, marketers also need to consider the compatibility of different fonts, patterns and styles in different email clients.

Legitimate framework

Imagine a what if legal condition before just sending your another email. Different countries have different legal bindings and sending emails internationally means abiding by these legitimate frameworks of various countries. While Canada has the CASL, the US has CanSpam, Australia has The Spam act etc. You should also know the regional ISP algorithms and ESP guidelines so that you don’t end up falling prey to a spam trap in one country while executing successfully in another. You can also consult legal email professional.

A myriad of personalization data sets

Personalization and real-time data is now just integral part of an email marketer’s life. Talking about international email campaigns, there is a myriad of personalization data set available to exploit. Global email marketing companies ought to personalize for various segments. There might be a different geo-targeting for someone in India as compared to a remotely located person on Norway. Likewise, you might also explore the opportunities for real-time live social feeds in multiple languages.

Takeaways

Multi-lingual copy

Appropriate design aesthetics matching the cultural aspects

Real-time personalization for various segments

Campaign management in different time zones

Varying legal rules

Reading patterns, typography and alignment

Internationalize processes

Inspired by – “Going International: How to Localize your Email Campaigns” Presentation of Curse Inc and Campaign Monitor from TEDC.

Kevin is the Head of Marketing at EmailMonks, one of the fastest growing email design and coding companies. He loves gadgets, bikes, jazz, and breathes ‘email marketing’. He is a brand magician who loves to engage, share insights with fellow marketers, and enjoys sharing his thoughts on the latest email marketing best practices at EmailMonks Blog.